Gymnasts provide hope for Olympics
Fourteen-year-old Greek gymnast Maria Mastroyiannopoulou delighted local fans over the weekend by picking up a silver medal – at junior level – on the uneven parallel bars in the European Women’s Gymnastics Championships, held in Patras, western Greece. It was the national team’s sole medal at the event, and more importantly, the first-ever medal won by a Greek female athlete in gymnastics, at either junior or senior levels, in the Europeans. «I prepared well, making a huge effort. I had faith in myself. My execution of the routine was among the best I’ve ever done,» remarked Mastroyiannopoulou. «My teammates helped greatly by encouraging me,» she added. Stephania Bisbikou, also 14, ended sixth in the combined individual event for the national team’s next best performance. She qualified for four finals but felt disappointed after failing to win a medal on the rings. Commenting on the national team’s performance, the gymnastics federation’s president, Dimitris Dimitropoulos, was confident of further successes by Greek female gymnasts in the near future. «The new wave of athletes, to be added to the national team for the World Championships in 2003 and the [Athens 2004] Olympics,» Dimitropoulos contended,«is coming through.» At senior level, Russia topped the event’s medal rankings with five gold medals and two silver, way ahead of the second-placed Dutch team. Greece captured fourth place at junior level.
